Legislature Needs to Work on Time Management

No matter how you feel about the state legislature, I think we can all agree that these folks need to work on their time management skills.

College students cramming for finals have better time management skills.

Procrastinators have better time management skills.

Heck, doctors have better time management skills.

After being in session for five months, legislators left the most important stuff to the last minute last week and then almost ran out of minutes.

Pulling an all-nighter, as the House did Tuesday into Wednesday, is no way to run a railroad, no matter how much stuff you are trying to railroad through.

The Senate didn't pass the budget until 30 minutes before the General Assembly's mandatory midnight adjournment deadline.

It's not clear what would have happened if the Senate had exceeded the cutoff, but as any bartender will tell you, nothing good happens after midnight.

The big item this session was the adoption of the two-year, $40.3 billion budget.

The budget that was approved contained tax hikes and tax cuts, although which is which is difficult to tell.

Large corporations and the wealthy were unhappy with some of the new taxes and were said to have one foot out the door. But then they always are said to have one foot out the door, even though the door never seems to hit them in the backside.

GE was complaining the loudest, even though it doesn't pay any taxes to Connecticut (how is this possible?) and says it is now actively looking to relocate to a state that is more business-friendly. I hear Biloxi is wonderful in the summer.

Sen. L. Scott Frantz, a Republican from Greenwich, said the new taxes were a mistake and would cause a lot of pain along the Gold Coast. "It's almost like a modern day 'Grapes of Wrath' down in our neck of the woods," he said.

If there was a big political winner in the budget, it was the Republicans. This is because they had nothing to do with it. Being frozen out of the process does have it advantages.

During remarks, one Republican legislator reminded Gov. Dannel P. Malloy that he had promised not to raise taxes. He must be new. In an election year, politicians are required by law, I believe, to swear that they will not raise taxes.

Here's a frightening thought. After they get some sleep, our hard-working legislators (and they are hard-working) will be back in a few weeks to tweak the hodgepodge. We should be relatively safe in the interim.

Expanding Presidential Fields Amusing, Sad

After Rick Santorum declared his candidacy for president, political observers everywhere had the feeling that it just can't get any better than this. Then this week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry tossed his 10-gallon ego into the ring. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee announced he would be taking on front, front, front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton. Chafee enters the race as a future trivia question and could become even less known by the time he drops out. What would put this field over the top, of course, would be the entrance of the gold standard of presidential candidates, Donald Trump.

Forget Wall Street, Traffic Duty Is Where the Money Is

Can you wave your arms? Can you stand for long periods of time? Can you look into a hole while men are working and drink coffee? Then you might have what it takes to make more than $540,000 over a two-year period, which is what a West Hartford police lieutenant made in 2013 and 2014. Of course, you have to be a sworn police officer to get the job, and you have to have one heck of a work ethic to rack up the hours. Still, not a bad gig.

Will Texas OK Guns for Prisoners Next?

Although legislators here will probably pass legislation that prohibits anyone subject to a restraining order from having a gun, in Texas they just passed a bill allowing concealed weapons on college campuses. Gov. Greg Abbott (who is currently monitoring the possible "Jade Helm 15" takeover of the state by the federal government) has promised to sign the law. "An armed society is a safe society," one legislator said during debate. College kids carrying guns, what could possibly go wrong? And you wonder why corporations never actually leave.